This invention relates generally to the field of sporting equipment, and particularly to a training golf club which is designed for improving or practicing the swing, without actually striking a ball.
Golf swing teaching theory that stresses feeling the swinging motion of the head of a regular club has a long history. This theory has had such notable proponents as Ernest Jones, Dave Marr, and Manuel de la Torre. It teaches players to learn the proper motion of the swing in a natural, sensory way. This approach to learning the correct swing overcomes tendencies of most golfers to focus too strongly on purely mechanical aspects of the swing (such as keeping the left arm straight, or the head down). The importance of feel is illustrated by the fact that Ben Doyle, a well known and respected golf teaching professional, has even had students swing a mop to get them to feel the lagging action of dragging the clubhead, rather than throwing it. (See Golf Digest, August 1983, pages 81-83).
I have found that one can better learn the feel of a proper swing by using a warm-up or practice club having a very flexible shaft, and a head that is heavier than that of a standard driver, and have embodied these features in the practice club described below.
There are currently a number of weighted swing trainers on the market, but none with a particularly flexible shaft. Two known training clubs are the Swinger, from Golfsmith, and Assist by Matzie. The latter has an angular shaft, and may be covered by U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,147. There is also a warm-up weight donut for golf clubs, and a weighted head cover, for a standard driver.
A practice club having a particularly flexible shaft has been previously described, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,033. The club described therein is similar in appearance to my club, in that it has a cylindrical, weighted head at one end of a flexible shaft, the other end of which has a handgrip. The shaft of the prior club includes a composite core member which is inflexible at the end adjacent the grip, and flexible at the other; the composite member is surrounded by steel wires which give the shaft a weight in the 750-850 gram range. A separate covering layer is provided over the wires. This complex construction may generate production costs that could be avoided, and places substantial weight in the shaft.